2006-12-16 12:09:24 · 18 answers · asked by ? 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Put quite simply, I would say it is desire which seperates
us from the rest of creation. Young chilldren, animals, and
all other living things know only wants- the necesseties of
living: to be safe, warm, nourished, ect. They have thoughts,
feelings, nay even souls, but in the pursuit of comfort and
pleasure, they are innocent and free from desire. Only man
desires more than this- he desires conquest and exaltation.
He desires to learn, he desires to be challenged, he desires
to create; in short, he desires to be and do more than what
he is and what he has. He is fundementally dissatisfied with
simply existing- there must be something MORE! And so he
creates Gods and an afterlife, so that there is something
MORE when life is done. He invents problems so that he
can solve them and feel that his life is MORE than simply
existing. He imagines inadequacies so that he can master
them and become MORE than what he was. He paints
pictures and composes symphonies and designs buildings
and writes stories and invents handy gadgets and discovers
cures for disease......all because he is MORE than a hairy
ape with delusions of grandure! ;-) Hahaha, it's our innate
unhappiness with ourselves that makes us desire that next
great thing which lies just beyond the horizon, or just beyond
reach- this is the only quality which seperates us from the rest
of creation.
2006-12-16 14:57:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The ability to reason, there is evidence that animals have feelings too, attachment, loneliness, spirit (such as caging a wild healthy animal can kill it). But to those that are religous, it's the ability to believe in something based on faith alone. Reason gives us the ability to consider and choose a path, where animals rely on instinct, animals don't hate, but we have to be convinced to do this, hatred does not come natural. That is the wonderful thing about children, they are born without hatred. What makes us human is the thing which has and will bring the brightest and darkest moments man has ever known, it's all in how children are taught to use this gift.
2006-12-16 20:20:03 · answer #2 · answered by theshadowknows 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is just a name we have chosen to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the animals! Give a man an inch and he will take a mile!
2006-12-16 21:48:57 · answer #3 · answered by Nikolas S 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What makes us human is that we can evolve, think & make decisions & choose right from wrong. To become saints, that's if we chose to.
Animals don't think, they are pure instinct.
Also to make mistakes!
2006-12-16 20:39:28 · answer #4 · answered by glgl 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
That we are Homo sapiens, one of many advanced, variant species of mammals. We are a variant ape and I do not see why that is not good for most people, as it was naturally selected to be.
2006-12-16 20:26:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
our mistakes, our sadness, our tears, our love, everything that feels, everything that feels like a hole has been ripped open in your chest, that makes us human, we are not drones, or machines. In essence, our pain separates us from the machines.
2006-12-16 20:42:38 · answer #6 · answered by upcoming_author 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Flaws.
2006-12-16 21:04:09 · answer #7 · answered by Cappuccino 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ball bearings and a stick shift.
2006-12-16 20:14:00 · answer #8 · answered by Lucky 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The ability to tell right from wrong. It is up to us to choose which path we want to take.
2006-12-16 20:12:37 · answer #9 · answered by Silverkitten 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
cats and dog and every other mammal that exist that can not talk with comprehensional skills, think with emotions and have the concept that thou shall fear no evil
2006-12-16 20:45:48 · answer #10 · answered by boxhead5555 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋